Time Warner Invests In Video Ads Startup ScanScout

ScanScout, a Boston startup oft described as providing “AdSense for video”, will announce this morning that it has received a strategic investment from Time Warner.

The size of Time Warner’s investment has not been disclosed. However, CEO Doug McFarland claims that many of the benefits for ScanScout will come from the connections and opportunities created by its partnership with Time Warner, aside from the financial gains.

We covered ScanScout back in May. The two-year-old company’s software displays contextual in-video advertisements that are determined by three factors: surrounding page information, audio patterns in video, and imagery patterns in video. ScanScout’s software analyzes and weighs all three sources of information to determine which advertisements are most appropriate for a given online video.

With its investment, Time Warner joins First Round Capital, Angel Investment Partners, and General Catalyst Partners. ScanScout also announces today the formation of its board of directors, which includes representatives from First Round Capital, General Catalyst Partners, Time Warner, and Digitas.

McFarland cites YuMe and AdapTV as ScanScout’s most direct competitors.